


You're not Alone

by Steffygeon (knightinvalhalla)



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Accidental Plot, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, F/F, Weird Plot Shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-12
Updated: 2015-06-27
Packaged: 2018-04-04 02:25:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4122531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knightinvalhalla/pseuds/Steffygeon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The whole place was slowly being swarmed by the infected and Shaw was currently stuck with a group of civilians - a group of panicking civilians at that. And it's annoying her. She should be there inside, killing those bastards instead of Cole, not babysitting these people. She would've been a bigger help in lessening the number of the infected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So... this plot has been made years ago... just different characters. and well, I really love SHOOT so here it is, please be gentle... I apologize in advance for the errors... and tell me if you noticed something weird... have fun reading! :) 
> 
> -XIII

The world is ending — the human race is on the verge of extinction — and it's evident, with all the alarms blaring, people screaming, and children crying for help. And also the bloodied walls they passed by.

The whole place was slowly being swarmed by the infected and Shaw was currently stuck with a group of civilians - a group of panicking civilians at that. And it's annoying her. She should be there inside, killing those bastards instead of Cole, not babysitting these people. She would've been a bigger help in lessening the number of the infected.

_“Sir, I believe I--” Shaw said but only to be interjected._

_“Oh no, not this time Shaw. I know I’ve placed you all in the right assignments.”_

_“But Sir--”_

_“No more buts Shaw.” The Chief said, sternly. “Just this one Shaw- just for once, please follow my order.”_

And right now the only things that are making her feel better are the weapons given to her after bargaining with her Chief for this mission: a Custom AR-15 which she is gleefully harassing every once in a while when a zombie gets in the way (She knew about the consequences of firing something so loud, but what can she do? It was music to her ears), a tactical rifle slung on her body, and two handguns: one behind her waist, and the other safely tucked on her right leg.

Shaw sighed and paused for a while to check back on her group when she heard a small yelp. She has a couple of families with her; mothers and children, there were no men. They were left inside or ahead of them to prevent any of the infected following them, and the rest to somehow clear a path. But Shaw had an inkling that some of the blood splattered on the walls did not only belong to the infected.

She suddenly remembered the faces of the specimens two days ago. How they were sick, who got better for a few days, then died eventually. And worse, the medicine they took reached their brains and mutated, turning them into infectious (dead) cannibals.

"How long before we reach the exit?" a girl poked her leg, and shook her from her thoughts.

This kid was the first one to speak up all this time they were walking through this maze like halls, Shaw mused. All the others were terrified enough to even make a proper sentence. Thankfully she had convinced them that screaming will only make things worse. So after a while only small whimpers and groans or bated breaths were the only things she heard from most of them, every time they passed by a corpse or when they saw an infected on their way.

"Are we going to die here?” the girl added. Shaw was caught up with her thoughts again. She carefully examined the little girl. She had cerulean eyes and short blonde hair.

Shaw pursed her lips; she didn’t know what to say. Hell she wasn’t wired for these kinds of stuffs. And if she were to honestly answer that question, she'd say they'll most likely die _after_ they get out of this place. But she knows it's not really safe here either and that’s not the answer the kid was looking for, probably.

"Guess we'll have to find out ourselves." she sighed, looking at the girl's cerulean orbs.

The girl didn't respond, but looked deeper into Shaw's eyes. She wasn't satisfied with Shaw's answer.

Shaw rolled her eyes and signaled her group to take a break, deeming it a bit safe. She bent down to take a closer look at the girl.

"What's your name kid?"

"Lumina." The girl smiled.

"That's a pretty cool name." Shaw said, "Look, Lumina, you seem like a pretty brave young girl for your age."

"Thanks." Lumina looked at her fidgeting hands. "My mother told me that too."

"Okay, so where is she Lumina?" Shaw straightened herself to look at her group and grabbed Lumina's hand. "So I can-"

Lumina tugged at her hands. The kid wasn't looking at her anymore. Her sight was glued to the floor.

"She's not here." she mumbled.

"So where are they?" Shaw sighed, and then it hit her.

"They weren't able to get out of the room." Lumina looked back at Shaw. "Dad held off the infected with the other officers while my mom and I and the others tried to escape, but before we even got to a safe distance. We were ambushed. My mom was bitten by one on her forearm when she tried to save me."

Shaw tried to determine the child's expression and she was sure there was no trace of sorrow or grief. Lumina told her how she witnessed her parents’ death with a straight face.

“Hey, look, we’re definitely going to get out of here _alive_. Okay? And where we’re going, I know we’ll all be safe from _them._ ”

Lumina offered a tight smile then nodded. “Thank you, miss...”

“Shaw. Sameen Shaw.” Shaw said, placing a hand on Lumina’s shoulder to _comfort_ the kid _._

Shaw then noticed that Lumina has a black satchel that looked pretty unusual for a kid to have. Shaw thought a kid like Lumina would prefer something like a pink and glittery bag like most of the kids she saw earlier had. But this one was pretty ragged and looked a bit heavy. Shaw couldn't help but ask when she noticed a strange logo, which she couldn’t make out, in front of it.

"Say, Lumina, where'd you get that bag?"

"There was an officer." Lumina began, "I saw him a while ago before I got to you. He gave me this and told me to keep it safe."

"Have you seen what's inside?"

"No, I think it's safer if it's just inside." She hugged the bag tighter.

"So, can I take a look at it?"

"Will you keep it safe?"

"Yes. Yes I will."

"Promise?"

Shaw was tempted to roll her eyes but then nodded. Lumina slowly handed her the bag then Shaw carefully examined it to make sure it wasn't contaminated with the infected blood. Thankfully it wasn't so they’re all safe. When she was done, she tried deciphering the slightly ripped logo and failed. She sighed then opened the bag anyway and found a thick metallic-like ball, a fair size of a fist. She tried getting her hands on it but Lumina stopped her.

"Please don't. It's safer inside the bag." Lumina said.

"Okay." Shaw nodded, closing the bag and handing it back to Lumina. “Do you know what’s inside that… ball?”

“I… --”

"Hi Sam." Cole said through Shaw's earpiece. "Looks like you've found yourself a friend there."

Shaw was shook from her thoughts and looked around to find a camera not too far from their spot. She looked back at Lumina and ruffled her short blonde hair and kept her at close distance.

“Let’s talk about this later.” Shaw mouthed to Lumina. The kid smiled, nodding as she fixed her short hair.

"What do you want Cole?" Shaw glared at the camera. "I'm a bit busy babysitting here."

"Nothing, Sam. I just want to talk."

Shaw groaned exasperatedly. She didn't respond and ignored Cole’s attempts at small talk. Cole of all people should know she hates small talks, especially when they're in the middle of saving people's lives.

"Come on Sam." he chuckled.

"Really Cole? Talk?" Shaw chided. "Now's really not the time."

"Well, I think this is the best time as any." Cole pushed. "I was just wondering what the great Sameen Shaw would do if we ever get out of this place."

 _‘If there really was a place to be after this.’_ Shaw mused _._

"Look, Cole." Shaw signaled her group to start walking again, "I'm really not interested, okay? My plan right now is to get us all out of here. So just focus on those goddamn cameras, I think we're getting near the exit, so see if there are zombies nearby."

Cole sighed and Shaw felt uneasy, somehow. Only now did she notice the faint gun fires in the background.

"Hey Cole," Shaw said, "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, sure. Everything's cool in here Sam." he chuckled, "No worries, I just think you're missing out on all the fun."

"Whatever." A moment of silence and Cole spoke again.

“Heads up! Three guys ahead of you, just around the corner after the two rooms from your spot.” Cole Instructed and Shaw’s guard was up again. She pushed Lumina behind her and tried not to alarm her company.

As soon as they passed by the two rooms and reached the corner, Shaw crouched and scanned the hall headed towards the exit. Cole was right, there were three infected eating an officer’s body.

“Anything on these guys, Cole?”

“Nothing much, Sam, just the normal types.”

“Great.” She mumbled and finally stood up again. Now her company was alarmed, she smiled wickedly at them (not that she’d realize that) then went out of her hiding place.

“Hey numb-nuts! Try some of these.”

Startled, the zombies turned their attention to Shaw. They threw away what was left of the officer’s limbs and ran towards Shaw while making all these stupid noises. Shaw kept her distance, careful not to get even a tinge of blood. She successfully shot two in the kneecaps but blasted their brains off anyway and the other somehow made it a couple of yards before his head was blown to bits that splattered on the wall.

 “Okay, out we go people.” She called out back to where the others were.

"So, once you guys reach the exit, there will be an open space-" Cole spoke again but she cut him short.

"- And a high probability of an ambush, yeah I got that, how about you tell me something I don't know."

Cole didn't respond properly and just sighed. Shaw noticed he's been at it for a while now, but shrugged it off.

After a while, they've reached the exit door that was firmly shut. It was pretty heavy looking and its lock was at the main control room, where the rest of Cole and the others were currently at. She tried to push the door open but it won’t budge.

"A little help here Cole." Shaw said.

"On it." he said. "Careful there now, Sam."

"Speak for yourself Cole. You guys are still inside." When the door was opened, she was the first to step out, tightly gripping her rifle while carefully scanning the area. Her company followed suit.

It really was an open space, like a really huge garage out of nowhere, and the only things left for them were a huge truck enough for the civilians with her and a black Ducati and the bloody corpses all over the place. She directed the families to get in the truck and get settled. They'll be driving off as soon as Cole gives her the go signal.

Shaw was ready to talk to Cole when Lumina tugged at her jacket. She bent down to meet Lumina’s gaze.

“Uhmm… Wha--” She was cut off when Lumina hugged her so tight, like they’ve known each other for so long, like two best friends. “Okay…”

“Thank you.” Lumina smiled, then ran off and into the truck, leaving Shaw almost dumbfounded.

Agent Shaw!" A familiar voice called off, breaking her trance.

Shaw whipped her head and saw a pink haired woman jogging towards her direction. It was Claire, one of her closest colleagues next to Cole. She thinks it's weird how she got acquainted with the two. She and Claire never really got along, because Shaw thinks Claire's hair looks weird and Claire hates Shaw's food addiction, but Cole was always there to stop them from slitting each other's throats.

"Agent Farron." Shaw dropped her gun and relaxed. "Where are the other civilians?"

"They're safe for now, and on their way to the underground facility, as planned."

Claire brought out her tablet and showed Shaw the GPS location of the other trucks that have left a couple of minutes ago. They all took different routes to avoid an ambush in one place.

"And why are you still here?"

"I was reassigned to be your escort on this trip, now that the number of the infected is up by 45% and still rising. I suggest we leave now or we die on our way."

"Yeah, sure. Here, take this." Shaw tossed her the rifle and got herself a handgun.

"What's this?"

"What? You don't know what a rifle is spiky?"

Claire narrowed her eyes, "That's not what I meant, you little shit."

"Yeah, whatever. I'll catch up with you guys later. I still have to go back inside."

"What?" Claire's brows furrowed, "You do know this whole place is crawling with the infected, and more of them are marching towards this place, as we speak."

"That's why you and these people are going to leave _this place_ without me." Shaw looked at her sternly, "Right. Now."

"But-" She was cut off when Shaw trained her handgun on her head. Claire glared at her but raised both her hands in the air and scoffed. "You really think you can still save them?"

"I'm not having this conversation with you now, Claire." She turned to step away and head for the door to get back inside.

"Oh yeah? Who do you think reassigned me to be your escort?"

Shaw swallowed the lump in her throat. There it is- she was right all along. Right after they were given these assignments, she knew something was off with Cole. It went through her head, one-by-one- everything that has happened.

“Yeah, that’s right; _he_ knew how stubborn you can get. _He_ knew they’re not getting out of this mess right from the start. And here you are, trying to waste everything they’ve sacrificed by going back inside.” Claire bawled out. “And for what? Nothing!”

Shaw turned on her heels and took a few strides closer and grabbed Claire's collar, pulling her down. "Just drive the damn truck, Farron." She hissed.

“What if I don’t hobbit?” Claire challenged her, although she knew she’ll lose anyway. No one wins an argument against Sameen Shaw.

“You already know the answer to that spiky.”

Claire smirked and shook her head, slowly shrugging off from Shaw's firm grip on her collar. She's not dealing with this tiny grump right now. She's still on a mission to save these people and their safety always comes first.

 "Okay. You know what? I’m done." She hissed, her tone dripping with bitterness. “You wanna die? Fine by me.” Claire smugly smiled at Shaw one more time before getting into the truck. She’ll just have to apologize to _him_ if they ever see each other again.

Claire started the engine and looked at Shaw one last time; like she was giving her a second chance to go with them, but Shaw only narrowed her eyes at her.

‘ _Okay, suit yourself._ ’ Claire thought. She turned her head to see a blonde girl on the passenger’s seat. It wasn’t like her to smile gently all of a sudden but she did, and somehow she felt like all her anger was flushed away from her veins.

Shaw followed Claire’s line of sight and noticed that Lumina was sitting in the passenger's seat. The kid was looking at her now with wide eyes. She was expecting Shaw to be driving the truck and not someone else so they can talk about the ball, but either way, Lumina just waved at her and smiled faintly. Shaw in return just nodded and looked back at Claire as they drove off.

* * *

 

Back inside the control room, Cole alone sat in front of the monitors and watched as Shaw and Claire quarreled. He tensed up when Shaw made her move and grabbed Claire's collar but smiled to himself when Claire had to bend a little as Shaw pulled her down. When Claire finally backed away, Cole relaxed in his chair but winced when he hit his gashed arm on his side. He had ripped the bitten part off his arm to somehow delay his mutation or bleed to death before the infection even reach his brain.

It was dark in the control room, and just being in it with his dead colleagues sent him off the edge. Cole looked around; there were blood all over the place and on the monitors on the table. On the far corner of the room, he saw a friend lying on his own pool of blood.

It was Jerry, he met him during his first mission, and Jerry was a really good guy to his family and friends. Right next to him was Nash, who had cut off his left leg just a couple of minutes ago for no reason. Cole thinks it must have been the virus that is messing with his brain. He let a stray tear fell from his bleary eyes as he remembered who these people were, how much they've lost and the families they had left behind.

"Cole, I know you're there. Speak up." Shaw admonishes, her voice interrupting his train of thoughts. "Open up or I'll burst through this damn door!"

Cole chuckled, oh he'll surely miss this one hell of a woman, he thought. He wiped his eyes and cleared his throat before answering back to a furious Shaw. The short woman was staring back at him through the camera over the exit door.

"That won't be necessary, Sam. And please don't try and waste your bullet on a titanium door." Cole chuckled, trying to look funny despite the pain he's feeling. "There’s no way you can open that."

"You wanna bet?" Shaw smiled wickedly.

When Cole didn't answer, Shaw trained her tactical rifle to the door and fired. Cole did nothing but watched as Shaw harassed the helpless door to no end.

"Sam please, j-just stop." he stuttered, "You'll only attract the infected."

Just then, an alarm set off beside Cole. His eyes widened when he turned to look at the other monitor. He was right, Shaw was attracting more zombies - and fast. They were coming from every direction.

"Sam!"

"What?" Shaw briefly stopped shooting to look up.

"You have to leave _now_!" Cole exclaimed, "Take what is left of your weapons and leave this place. There is a group of infected headed your way!"

"Let them come." Shaw began firing again and ignored Cole's exasperated sigh. "I'd be more than willing to blast their brains out."

Cole tried standing up but failed and fell back on his chair. He was feeling woozy and was losing consciousness. The infection has reached his brain faster than expected.

"Then you leave me no choice." Cole typed in a few codes on his computer and a 2 minute timer popped up.

 

_‘SELF-DESTRUCTSEQUENCE INITIATED'_

 

The computer bellowed all over the building and startled Shaw, abruptly stopping her from firing.

"What the—?" Shaw said, "Cole! You stupid-"

"I'm sorry Sam." Cole sniffed; he realized he's been crying all this time he watched Shaw stubbornly tried to break through the titanium door for his sake. “I told you you’re missing out on all the fun.”

He stared as Shaw stood idly and did nothing but send him a death glare through the camera. He chuckled, normally he would feel small under her frightening gaze, but right now, all he can see was a short woman trying to scare him but was failing miserably.

"Come on Sam." Cole said weakly, "You're a really good friend and you've saved me a dozen times. Let me return the favor."

Shaw just shook her head and sighed, "Whatever you say Cole."

"Thank you, Sam." Cole smile, more to himself than to Shaw, and cut the connection to Shaw's earpiece. His job was done.

Shaw listened as the line was cut off by static and pulled out the earpiece from her ear then threw it somewhere with the tactical rifle. She turned from the door and walked away. The walk from the door to the Ducati seemed slow for Shaw. She was frustrated, hell she was furious. She could've saved Cole and the others but Cole won't let him. She hated him for that.

When Shaw finally reached the Ducati, she gathered every last firearms on the shelf, not too far from the Ducati, as fast as possible and shoved it all in the duffel bag that she recovered from the top shelf.

"One minute left Shaw." she muttered to herself upon hopping on the Ducati; the duffel bag slung on her body.

Shaw revved the engine but before she could even advance. The faint groans from the infected were heard. One-by-one they showed up from each directions.

"Shit." she muttered, bringing out the handgun that was safely tucked by her leg and aimed for their heads. "I don't have time for this."

Shaw was cornered and her time was running out. Adrenaline took over her and shot at-least five infected that was on her way. She also tried shooting some of them on the kneecap to slow them down, but it wasn't enough, they kept coming.

Having no choice left, she decided to bomb her way out, even if that meant attracting more infected because of the noise. She managed to bring out two hand grenades from the duffel bag and tossed them away. Her plan worked somehow and was able to clear a path for herself. When it was clear, she accelerated and was away from the headquarters at the last minute.

At least five yards away from the explosion, she stopped and looked back. She watched as the whole building was swallowed up by the explosion with Cole and the others.

‘ _This must have been a sick joke._ ’ She thought.

One morning she was just enjoying her candy bar while watching as the doctors and scientists ‘ _played_ ’ with the specimens. She never really gave a damn about what they did, as long as she gets to kick some ass on her job. But now, she watched, as the whole place where she _enjoyed kicking some ass’,_ was burned to nothing but ashes.

She didn’t stay long. She still has a truck to catch up and (somehow) maybe, avenge her colleague’s death by killing as much as she has to.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #LoveWins

Several days earlier

_It was a very pleasant morning in Shaw’s apartment that day. She had finished her workout earlier and had worked up a pretty good sweat. She was in the middle of making her first meal for the day when her phone buzzed. Groaning, Shaw went over to the counter to grab her phone and sighed. Looks like she won’t be having any of the said meal._

_“Can’t it wait ‘til I get there?” she said through gritted teeth._

_“Well, good morning to you too!” Cole teased, “But no, this can’t wait. Chief wants all his agents in 20 for a very important announcement.” He finished with a chuckle._

_“Fine, whatever.” She rolled her eyes. “Be there in 15.”_

_Shaw abruptly dropped the call without waiting for a response and sighed. She wondered what pissed her off the most: Cole’s display of his annoying nature or the fact that she’s going to work with an empty stomach._

_“Fuck this shit.” She mumbled, tossing her phone back to the counter and it lands with a thud._

_Five minutes and she’s changed into her uniform. She gathered all her necessities and headed for the door, taking first a longing glance at her supposed breakfast before finally closing the door shut._

* * *

_Shaw arrived at the station 10 minutes later, ignoring every greetings and small talks from her colleagues and made a beeline to her desk. Once settled, she tried focusing on the files that had piled up on her desk. She was finally getting interested with the file on her hand when someone dis-pleasingly spoke up._

_“Hey short stuff.” Claire spoke from behind her, taking a bite of her candy bar. “Any clue on what the hell’s going on?” she pointed over to the scientists that were entering the Chief’s office._

_Shaw followed her line of sight and noticed that the nerds did look troubled… Than usual._

_“I don’t know spike.” Shaw unceremoniously stood up and snatched the candy bar from Claire’s grasp. “But I’d really love to find out.”_

_Claire’s jaw dropped comically as she watched the shorter woman made her escape with Claire’s candy bar. After a second or two, she shook her head and decided to follow Shaw’s lead towards Cole’s desk._

_“Hey Cole, what’s up with the brainiacs?” Shaw said, munching on the candy bar that she snatched from the pink haired woman._

_“Unfortunately, I have no idea.” Cole sighed. Normally, he’d be the first to know what’s up and around in this place so Shaw thinks this was something of a whole new level, if he didn’t. “They’ve been at it since I got here. I bet it’s been going on for hours.”_

_“So do you think it has something to do with the big announcement?”_

_“Maybe, since they were the only guys who have been interacting with Chief, even after he ordered to call us in.” Cole drummed his fingers on his deck before continuing his report in his computer._

_“Well, how about the rumors?”_

_“Rumors?” Cole looked up at her, “What rumors?”_

_Shaw took a large bite from her candy bar, “The rumors about those nerds working on something “crazy”.”_

_“Oh! I remember now.” Cole exclaimed, “There’s more to it than that, some said they had to kill someone from the inside to keep it confidential.”_

_Shaw’s jaw dropped, “Whoa, hold it right there, I didn’t know about that. Who said anything about killing?”_

_“It doesn’t really matter, they’re just rumors.” He shrugged._

_“I didn’t know they had it in them.” Shaw crossed her arms over her chest, still nursing her candy bar. “All I know is that they were working on something really weird, that’s it. Thanks anyway.”_

_Claire then made her presence known “I just hope it doesn’t have anything to do with the Family Fair next week.” she said as she made her way to sit on Cole’s desk. She looked like she would wanna break into the Chief’s office anytime soon._

_“Well, someone looks excited.” Shaw said, _finishing off (Claire’s) candy bar__ _. “Who’s going with you, your cat?”_

_Family fair is, of course, where it’s all about family for one day in their station. They organize magic shows, parlor games and set up a playground for the kids. Others would bring lots of food to share and some agents would prepare a special number, just for the fun of making their loved ones smile even if it made them look like a fool. Shaw, on the other hand would stay in one corner eating or stay in the shooting gallery._

_“I’m not excited.” Claire rolled her eyes. “And screw you! I have a sister.”_

_"Wait, you have a sister?"_

_"Yes, I have and if you could just try not to mope around or get out of the shooting gallery to socialize that would be great."_

_"I'm an orphan and a sociopath, Farron. Two things that don't make up a family."_

_"Looks like someone's getting lonely." Claire teased, her gaze drifting to Cole’s direction._

_"Shut up Farron. Before I try and ruin family day myself."_

_"Oohh scary." Claire mocked, followed by Cole's snicker._

_"Really Cole?" Shaw glared._

_"Sorry Sam." Cole looked up from his monitor and turned his chair. "But look, as I've said a thousand times before. Family day isn't just about 'family'—"_

_Shaw raised a trim brow, Cole's sight shifted from Shaw to Claire, like he has said something weird._

_"Oh God, what I meant was, you didn't have to be blood related to say that one person is your family; you have FRIENDS Sam, Claire and I. Right?" Cole looked at Claire for support but Claire just shrugged with an awkward smile playing on her lips._

_“Or maybe you can get your ass off your gloomy apartment every once in a while and get a date. You know, have fun? ” Claire playfully wiggled her brows and Shaw glared in return._

_“Yeah, like you’ve ever been on a “fun” date before. Nice try.”_

_Claire huffed, walking over to Shaw to place her hands on the shorter woman’s shoulder. “Hate to break it to you but…” Claire raised her hand, showing off the ring on her finger._

_“Oh really? How’d I know you didn’t buy that yourself?”_

_“You can say whatever you wanna say, dearie. But life’s too short to wait for an apocalypse to happen just so you can get a date.” The taller woman patted Shaw’s shoulder but Shaw didn’t say anything and rolled her eyes._

_"Whatever. You can get your hands off of me now.” She batted Claire’s hands and went for her desk. For a moment there, Shaw was sure she felt a sharp tug in her chest, she can get a date alright, but she didn’t have to prove herself to anyone. As she said, she's a bloody sociopath, she doesn't have feelings. Heck, she has more things to think about: like what's she gonna have for lunch or how many rounds would it take to kill Claire. Feelings? Family? Friends? A lover? Nah, she can live on her own... Without them._

* * *

 

Shaw has been traveling this endless road for hours now and still there were no signs of the truck going this way. She thought maybe Claire had a great idea of teaching her a lesson and took a different route instead. Damn woman. She promised she'd put a bullet or two in that woman's head when she sees her again.

Although going back was not the best option either, she just realized her fuel was slowly depleting and the sun was also setting. Camping out here in the open is not a bad idea though since there's a tall tree not far from her, just before a glowing sign of a gas station —wait —what?

She blinked a couple more times just to be sure that it wasn't just her empty stomach messing with her mind. Her eyes were squinted as she loomed over the sign and felt relieved when it really was a gasoline station. It was eerie but it didn't seem odd to her that the place was devoid of people by now. She'd be surprised if those cannibals hadn't reached this area.

Shaw went and fully filled her tank, and as if on cue, her stomach started grumbling. She sighed; she dropped the duffel bag then grabbed her hand gun and strutted over to the wrecked shop. There were shards of broken glass, bloodied corpses and guns all over the place. They were probably caught between the crossfires or they were infected, which would make sense, when some of the corpses were missing a limb or two.

Shaw cautiously entered the shop and went over to the counter to grab a bag. She had worn her gloves just to be safe before stowing all the goods that she pleases. She also went for the fridge to grab a drink but something on her reflection had caught her eye.

Only then did she notice the small bump on the pocket of her jacket. She shoved her hand in and pulled out what seemed to be round - it was the same metallic ball that Lumina had in her satchel. Her eyes widened, the kid must have put it in her pocket when she hugged her. Whatever this metallic ball was, she surely has to take good care of it, just as Lumina requested, until they meet again. Shaw shoved it back inside her pocket and zipped it, then she grabbed a couple of drinks and made a beeline to the counter and paid to no one in particular, zombie apocalypse or not, she's still an officer.

Shaw stalked out of the small building but stopped in her track when she heard a loud thud that seems to have come from the back of the shop. Instinctively, she pulled out her gun and took wary strides over to the back of the shop. Her eyes grew wide; she instantly recognized the vehicle that had crashed on a tree. It was the truck that she has been looking for - the same truck that Claire and the others had used to escape- and now it has crashed on a tree with no signs of life except for the thud that came from inside it.

She went over to the back of the truck only to find someone rummaging through the bags that was left behind. She tried her best not to alarm what seemed to be a woman as she took nimble steps to get closer - close enough to train Shaw’s gun to her head, just in case she tries something funny. Shaw watched for a moment until the woman got hold of a black satchel that seemed to have caught her attention, mostly.

“Hey,” Shaw said, the safety of her gun sounded audibly. The woman instantly froze and raised her hands in the air. “Drop the bag and turn around.”

The woman did as she was told, dropping the bag, she turns around to face Shaw with raised hands. Said woman was blonde and was taller than Shaw, and was also wearing a uniform resembling Shaw’s.

"Martine?" Shaw said.

"Shaw," Martine smirked, "Good to see you too."

Martine transferred to their station just a couple of months ago. She speaks with a British accent and was also good with the guns, Shaw noted. Although they haven’t been on a mission together, Shaw assumed it would be thrilling, but would also mean desk duty for a couple of weeks or a suspension. 

Shaw sighed, putting her gun back to its holster. "What are you still doing here?" she bent down to grab the satchel from the ground. "I thought you guys were supposed to be under ground by now." she opened the bag but there was nothing else inside it.

Shaw went over to the front seats; there were bloodstains on the steering wheel, presumably Claire's, when the truck had crashed into the tree.

'Strange, I didn't peg Claire to be the reckless one.' Shaw pondered.

“Same goes for you.” Martine said, she went to the other end of the truck and continued rummaging through the other bags. “You guys were taking so long to get there, when I received a distress signal from this area — from Claire— to be precise."

Martine brought out her tablet, "Here," she handed it over to Shaw. The smaller woman took the tablet and wondered why she didn't have the stupid thing in the first place.

Shaw scrutinized the gadget, it was the map of their location and there was a red balloon blinking on top of it.

"So then, where are they?" Shaw said, thrusting the tablet back to Martine's hands. "Claire's tablet, where is it? She might have left it here somewhere."

"I was looking for it before you trained your gun at me.

"That's because I thought you were someone else that's interested in this bag." Shaw raised the bag, earning a raised brow from Martine.

"Interested? Why, what's with that bag?"

Shaw fell silent for a moment. What was so interesting about the bag, anyway? As far as she was concerned, that black satchel was just from a kid, who had lost her parents and was so protective of the ball of metal that Shaw was now —securely — keeping in her pocket.

"Oh—uh— nothing, I guess." Shaw stuttered, putting the bag down awkwardly. "I was just —”

"Concerned?"

"Wondering." Shaw clarified.

"Wondering?" Martine chuckled, or did she just scoff? Shaw pondered, taking note of Martine's posture. "Tell me, Agent Shaw, what made you wonder? Was it the kid you saw with that bag or was it the thing that was inside that bag?"

 _Kid? Must be Lumina. And the 'thing' she does not know about the ball._ Shaw mused, her hand slowly crept up to her handgun behind her but Martine beat her to it.

"Ah, ah." Martine tsk, it was now her turn to train her gun at Shaw. Classic.  "Lose the _guns_ and toss me the bag."

"Why don't you take it from me, yourself?" Shaw dangerously smirked, "Come on, Martine. I don't bite."

Martine mirrored Shaw's expression, "Nice try, Shaw." she held out her hand. "But I'm gonna have to pass."

Shaw scoffed, rolling her eyes as she dropped every firearms on her body then tossed the bag into the blonde's hand.

"Isn't this the part where you handcuff me or something?" Shaw challenged, raising a trimmed brow.

"We'll have to skip that, I know handcuffs won't work on you." Martine said, shaking the bag in the air. "So what was in this bag Shaw? And where is it?"

"I don't know anything about that stupid bag," Shaw rolled her eyes, "And even if I knew, what makes you think I'll tell you?"

Martine laughed, "Say, are you guys related?” The taller woman shoved her hand in her pocket, bringing out a golden ring, "Cause she said _exactly_ the same thing."

Shaw's expression darkened, "Where is she?" she said gritting her teeth.

"I don't know?" the taller woman grinned wickedly, "Maybe somewhere her blood can attract _them_."

"You sick bitch." Shaw spat under her breath, “You’re gonna pay for this.”

"Oh, but you can still save her." Martine raised the bag.

Shaw didn’t speak—she was furious—she wanted to lunge at Martine, twist her neck and get this over with. Maybe blow the blonde’s brains off too, but that might cause a bit of a problem. "It's in the duffel bag outside."

"I've always thought you were the toughest one, Shaw." she slung the satchel over her head, her gun dangerously aimed for Shaw's head. "But thanks."

 

_BANG._

 

 

_BANG._

 

Two shots fired—but it wasn't Martine's—Shaw was sure. She watched as the blonde woman fell to her knees, the ring in her hand rolling off and over to Shaw's foot.

"You can breathe now." a perky voice said, coming from behind Martine, drawing Shaw's gaze. "It's good to finally meet you, Sameen." the woman with a dark-brown curly hair broke into a grin. Two hand guns in her grasp.

Shaw narrowed her eyes at the woman, "Who the hell are you?" she said, watching the woman kick off Martine's gun.

"You can call me Root." she smiled again, Root then started keeping her guns behind her. Her gaze dropped to the ground—to Shaw's firearms— she bent down and grabbed everything. "Here, we should start moving. Shooting this bitch—twice—wasn't that great of an idea."

Shaw took her guns and the ring without uttering a word, she kept the ring in her pocket, one gun on her waistband, the other, threateningly aimed at Root's retreating form. The latter stopped in her tracks upon hearing a safety of a gun being pulled.

Shaw could almost feel her smiling again, "You're not going to do that." Root said, looking back at Shaw over her shoulder.

"Give a good reason why I shouldn't."

Root turned to face Shaw, "I could give you three." she smiled, tilting her head, her hand clasped in front of her.

Shaw rolled her eyes; Root's confidence was getting into her nerves by the minute.

"That ball on your pocket." Root muttered, "That's mine, technically."

"How did you—"

"I _know_ , Sameen." Root smirked, "Now I hope that satisfies you 'cause we really have to go." Root left at once, leaving a confused Shaw.

"Could this day get any weirder?" Shaw grumbled, shaking her head but followed Root's track, nonetheless.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment... it would really help... and I'm having a hard time finding a BETA.. please if you're interested... comment or something? Thank you all! 
> 
> -XIII


End file.
